&NewLine; Voters lining up in front of polling stations during Presidential and Legislative elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

With millions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo &lpar;DRC&rpar; demonstrating "their commitment to the political process"&comma; the days ahead are "critical" to what has been an "historic election process"&comma; the top UN official in the country told the Security Council on Friday&period;

Leila Zerrougui&comma; Special Representative and head of the UN Stabilization Mission &lpar;MONUSCO&rpar;&comma; said that Congolese voters had shown "impressive maturity" and patience during the presidential poll&comma; which finally took place on 30 December&comma; two years later than originally planned&period;

"We must&comma; therefore&comma; show our collective solidarity with them&comma; as the electoral process is finalized&comma; and as the Democratic Republic of the Congo prepares to undertake the first peaceful transfer of power in the country's history"&comma; Ms&period; Zerrougui said via video conference&period;

The provisional election result declared Felix Tshisekedi the winner on Wednesday&comma; but another leading opposition candidate&comma; Martin Fayulu - who heads the Lamuka coalition - has now formally challenged the vote in court&comma; accusing the authorities of electoral fraud&period; This opposition to the vote&comma; said Ms&period; Zerrougi&comma; had the potential "to provoke disorder throughout the country"&period;

According to Ms&period; Zerrougui&comma; all national and international observation missions&comma; as well as MONUSCO teams deployed on the ground&comma; reported that despite technical&comma; logistical and security problems&comma; citizens had not been hindered in exercising their right to vote&comma; adding that the delayed publication of results&comma; had not led to any breakdown in public order&period;

She told the Council that reactions to CENI's announcement had been "swift and varied"&comma; and welcomed Mr&period; Tshisekedi&comma; who vowed to be a president "for all Congolese"&period;

'Supreme sense of responsibility' must prevail

Ms&period; Zerrougui told Council members there had been some "serious security incidents"&comma; including violent protests in Kwilu province that have reportedly left at least twelve dead&period; She said that MONUSCO teams were being deployed there to determine the facts and "engage with a view to de-escalating tension"&period;

Injuries&comma; arrests and unverified deaths were also reported in Kisangani&comma; the country's third largest city&comma; and several locations in Kasai province&period; Meanwhile a "tense situation" also prevails in several Kinshasa communes&period;

"I deplore all such acts of violence&comma; and appeal to the Congolese people and security forces alike to exercise calm and restraint in this critical period"&comma; she underscored&period;

With the final results expected to be announced within a week&comma; she said she would "continue to discharge my good offices&comma; engaging with all Congolese stakeholders&comma; to reinforce the need for calm and recourse to established judicial proceedures and to emphasize that a supreme sense of responsibility must prevail through the days ahead&period;"

'Overriding goals' reached by Congolese people&colon; CENI

Also via video link&comma; Corneille Nangaa&comma; President of the Independent National Electoral Commission &lpar;CENI&rpar;&comma; spoke at length of the tremendous difficulties throw up by the long process towards polling day and beyond&comma; adding that "there was not a single decision that was not challenged"&period;

Notwithstanding the significant snags&comma; 40 million voters were successfully registered&comma; and the election took place amid relative calm&period;

He underscored that "three overriding goals" had been achieved by the Congolese people&colon; a refusal to accept changes to the constitution&semi; resisting the desire for a third term the current Head of State&comma; Joseph Kabila&comma; who has ruled for 18 years&semi; and that for the first time in nearly 60 years&comma; there would now be a transfer of power at the highest level&period;

Mr&period; Nangaa paid tribute to 32 CENI staff who gave their lives in service to the democratic process&comma; concluding that CENI "has done what it was able to do&period;"

Speaking in the chamber on behalf of the African Union &lpar;AU&rpar;&comma; Fatima Kyari Mohammed informed the Council that while there had been as many as 75&comma;000 polling stations and the AU was only able to dispatch an election mission to a limited number&comma; reports from there had been positive&period;

She elaborated that the polls opened on time&semi; all materials were available&semi; polls were carried out in a calm and peaceful atmosphere&semi; candidate representatives were present&semi; and the election was conducted within the legal framework&period;

Joseph Malanji&comma; Foreign Minister of Zambia&comma; enumerated some of the "historical challenges" that the election process had thrown up&comma; including a warehouse fire just days before the poll that destroyed thousands of voting machines&comma; an Ebola outbreak in the east&comma; and continuing violence&period;

Notwithstanding these hurdles&comma; he made clear that the elections were managed in a "peaceful and calm atmosphere&period;"

Bishop urges 'path of true peace'

In contrast&comma; Bishop Otembi of the Catholic Bishops' National Episcopal Conference of the Congo &lpar;CENCO&rpar; said that their analysis of the presidential election did not correspond to the CENI-announced results&period;

Church authorities&comma; which play a powerful role in Congolese society&comma; deployed around 40&comma;000 monitors for the 30 December vote&period;

The bishop called for the Security Council to express its solidarity with the Congolese people&comma; and invited the UN body to request the publication of official notes from each polling station&comma; so that the tallies and data could be compared with those of CENI&comma; to remove all doubt&period;

He urged the Council to invite the parties in the potentially fraught days ahead&comma; to favour "the path of truth and peace"&period;